Regional tortillería groups across Mexico are reporting a cost squeeze this month that echoes the white-maize tightening Tortilla News covered in its Puebla–Morelos roundup. This time the picture comes from Sinaloa, Guerrero and Chiapas, and the pressure point differs depending on whether shops grind nixtamalized corn or run on industrial masa flour.
In Sinaloa, Rafael Uriarte Quiroz, who heads the state's masa-and-tortilla industrialists, told Los Noticieristas (Oct. 2) that flour rose MX$450 per metric ton in February despite what he described as a prior commitment from flour mills to hold prices. He said labor, spare parts and machinery are also up while the tortilla price has been flat for close to three years, at about MX$29/kg locally versus roughly MX$32–33 in Durango and Sonora. The group plans to ask federal and state authorities for support such as solar panels and machinery to cut operating costs. Without help, he warned, a price adjustment of an undetermined size would follow. Separately, he told Línea Directa (Oct. 7) that 42 tortillerías in the state closed (the outlet says last year), with about 11 since reopening, and that sales have fallen as much as 30% amid violence in parts of the state and weaker consumption.
In Guerrero, Arcadio Castro Santos, president of the state's masa-and-tortilla industrialists, told El Sol de Chilpancingo (Oct. 7) that drought cut local maize production by as much as 60%. Corn on the Costa Chica now runs about MX$9,000–10,000 per ton, up from MX$6,500–7,000 months earlier, and shops are sourcing from Sinaloa, Jalisco and Michoacán at roughly 30% higher cost, with gas, electricity and wrapping paper also rising. He said members are absorbing the hit and will keep the kilo price steady for the rest of the year. Talks with the state government aim at bulk purchases from Sinaloa or the Bajío, and access to grain reserves reportedly held in Guerrero by Alimentación para el Bienestar.
Chiapas offers the counterpoint. Eleaquín Velasco Anzueto of the “Somos Chiapas” industrialists group told local media (via Cronista Urbano, Oct. 7) that about 99.9% of the state's tortillerías use flour rather than corn, so the grain shortage has not hit them directly. He said flour suppliers have not raised prices and that the kilo sells for MX$18–25 in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Flour pricing does vary by purchase volume, though, and the group meets Oct. 16 to review costs. Its leaders say the meeting is not meant to announce an increase. For U.S. readers, these are state-level association figures, not a national price series. Read the original reports for each state's numbers.
Federación de Industriales de la Masa y la Tortilla (Sinaloa) Industriales de la Masa y la Tortilla de Guerrero Industriales de la Masa y la Tortilla “Somos Chiapas”